Wednesday, October 28, 2009

I drank a cup of the always excellent Karma coffee yesterday at 11:30am. I felt like a king, or a god, or the king of the gods. But at 7pm that night I was still twittering, and I'm not talking about social networking.

For those of you who are numb to its effects, allow me to be the canary in the coal mine: coffee does absolutely crazy things to your body. You may not be able to tell because you've gotten used to it, but hear my words. Coffee is black magic. Not being used to it, drinking just one cup changed the entire course of my day.

I respect it, but I wouldn't let coffee into my daily routine any more than I'd invite someone dangerous over to tea, no matter what that series of "How to Be An Artist" posters from the 90's said.

Even in my years as a touring performer, I never wanted to turn to the dark side, for I knew the temptation would be too great. In all those years of 1,000 mile driving days, late night performances and 6am flights, I could count the cups of coffee I had on one hand. And I don't have extra fingers.

If I don't like what coffee does to me, why, then, do I ever drink it? Because, a few times a year, I think "why not?" I also recognize that few ingestibles have the powerful sensory properties of coffee -- that aroma, that viscosity! -- but a few hours after I've had a cup, I inevitably think "why did I think 'why not'!?"

And here I thought I was the only one so sadly affected by coffee... I still vividly remember one time in college when I unwittingly drank something with espresso in it. I went out to dinner that night, and couldn't figure out why I was far more interested in flipping the pages of the menu back and forth than in ordering food! Now I drink coffee pretty sparingly. Interesting that I can drink as much black tea as I want, with no such ill effects. Why is that?

Coffee has surprising variety. Darker roasts have less caffeine, but so too do different beans.

I roast my own (make one press pot on weekends) and I have done some beans that one cup has my heart racing for hours and others that I can polish off the threeish mugs that my press makes and be ready to go to sleep by 10.

Go to a coffee shop and you are not likely to know what you are getting...though I do that too sometimes.